


Yesterday, when troubles seemed far away

by Jacqueline_64



Series: DISCUSSIONS IN A TAN LTD [2]
Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Humor, Missing Scene, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 12:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20760680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacqueline_64/pseuds/Jacqueline_64
Summary: Conversations the partners have when not using the Torino eventually always center around one topic: the sorry state of Hutch’s LTD. Prelude to Lady Blue





	Yesterday, when troubles seemed far away

# DISCUSSIONS IN A TAN LTD

The most used disclaimer:  
The TV show "Starsky and Hutch", and the characters from it  
are the property of the persons who hold the copyrights  
and other legal rights to them.  
This story is a work of fiction, written for pleasure only  
and not for profit. It is not intended, in any way,  
to infringe on these preexisting copyrights.

Jacqueline©2019-09-23

## YESTERDAY, WHEN TROUBLES SEEMED FAR AWAY

“Just how ironic is it that **my** car is in the shop right now getting a tune-up and we drive around in this crate on wheels?”

Hutch glanced briefly at his partner with a patented “here we go again” look, before responding,  
“Well, yeah, it **is** ironic how you schlepp that tomato of yours over to the bodyshop for every little loss of shine, when it’s totally unneccessary. You’d think you were married to the thing. High maintenance, huh, partner? You must be the favorite client of that place. You probably keep their books in the black all by yourself!”  
He snickered at his own remark.

An insulted look from Starsky was the lead into a familiar lament.  
“Look, at least **I** take care of my car. Make sure she performs at all times ….”

“At all costs…”, Hutch interrupted, still thinking he was on a roll.

“Keep her a reliable means of transportation and aesthetically appealing to boot”, Starsky continued in an indignant tone.

“Aesthetically what?”, Hutch asked in disbelief,  
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a bit? It’s a freaking car!”

“She’s more than that! She’s reliable, gets us to where we need to be, when we need to be there, she helps us keep the streets safe…. The mere sight of her already is enough for some bad guys to keep out of trouble!”

“Yeah, because they can see it coming from miles away cause it’s red like a fire engine and about as noisy with its tuned up engine. Why, Starsk, why another boost? Isn’t it loud enough already?”

Silence.

Starsky didn’t even dignify Hutch’s last remark with an answer. How could he explain to somebody who had no notion of fine cars how to treat them right? Instead he continued with an old favorite from his list of complaints about Hutch’s sorry vehicle.

“At least ya gotta respect your car, take care of it. This heap looks like it was put together by Frankenstein! Your car doesn’t even have a solid color!”

He looked at his partner and repeated, his voice rising,  
“Not even one solid color. I think it was tan…… once, but that panel that replaced the one that got bumped off is grey! GREY! I can’t even wrap my brain around how you can live with that!”

“Well, it’s hard to wrap just the one solid braincell you have around anything, Starsk,” Hutch – still thinking he could easily change careers and become a stand-up comedian – interspersed.

“And don’t even get me started on the smell! Aside from your backseat smelling like a mix of rotting food and dirty laundry, your dashboard smells like you’ve got wood burning underneath! Or is that what you use for fuel…. To keep this old furnace running?”

Hutch’s sunny mood ended abruptly. The insults hurled at his car could hurt even **his** feelings, although he was not half the car-lover his partner was. Their shift was over and they’d reached their final destination for the day, the bodyshop where Starsky could pick up his treasured Torino.

“Well, here we are. Why don’t you hurry and pick up your lady, huh? Oh, shucks, you forgot to bring her flowers!”

Starsky glared at Hutch before getting out. He leaned back into the passenger’s window. Despite their grumbling conversation on the way over here, the partners smiled at each other before Hutch drove off and Starsky walked over to his brightly shining Torino, that looked like she came fresh from the factory.  


************************************************************************

  
The next day he drove up to the parking alley behind Huggy’s, as requested by Hutch who’d called him first thing in the morning. He briefly slowed down his car to take in the sight that made a laugh bubble up from deep inside him.

His partner opened the passenger door of the Torino with force. Starsky knew which buttons to push, so he started with a semi innocent question.  
“What were ya doin’ in there?”

“I **just** wanna get my car fixed!!!! I’ve been in there on the phone for 20 minutes trying to prove the guy I **exist!!!!!!!**........”


End file.
